Friday, November 13, 2009

That guy could run... without getting caught often: Dave Lopez

It's like baseketball stars (no offense): keep shooting and eventually you'll average more than 20pts a game. Some guys really suck so there's no rule of thumb.

The caught stealing "CS" data has been collected since the 1914 season. Many of the all time leaders played before that era so therefore we will never be able to quantify how effective they really were. Some of those guys are: Honus Wagner, Bobby Hamilton, Ty Cobb, Max Carey and many other greats.

Among the top 30 all time leaders, the best stolen bases / caught stealing ratios belong to:

Tim Raines 5.53 (#5 overall leader)

Willie Wilson 4.98 (#11 overall leader)

Dave Lopez 4.88 (#23 overall leader)

Rickey Henderson 4.28 (#1 overall leader)

Joe Jorgan 4.25 (#10 overall)

Vince Coleman 4.24 (#6 overall leader and the only one right were he belongs)

Ozzie Smith 3.91 (#20 overall)

Kenny Lofton 3.88 (#13 overall)

Barry Bonds 3.64 (#29 overall)

Otis Nixon 3.33 (#14 overall)

Bert Campaneris 3.26 (#12 overall. Sorry Bert)

Lou Brock 3.05 (#2 overall, wow that's not right)

Maury Wills 2.81 (#18 overall)

Bret Butler 2.17 (#22 overall)

Going vintage and showing off a card will take me to this Dave Lopes 1976 Topps card commemorating his 38 consecutive stolen bases record. It took 53 years for someone to break Max Carey old record of 32 stolen bags. If you think that's amazing, just try to imagine Mr. Vince Coleman, current record holder, stealing 50 in a row between the 1988 and '89 season. That's something else.